Austrian backlash for Arnie's 'lack of mercy'

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California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger should be stripped of
citizenship in his native Austria for approving the execution of a
convicted killer, a leading Austrian politician said.

Peter Pilz, a top official with the environmentalist Green
Party, said the Austria-born Schwarzenegger no longer is worthy of
citizenship in his homeland because he broke the law by clearing
Donald Beardslee's execution on Wednesday.

Capital punishment is illegal in Austria, and Schwarzenegger -
who holds dual US-Austrian nationality - should be stripped of his
Austrian passport for "heavily damaging the reputation of the
republic," Pilz said.

He told Austrian media he sent the Interior Ministry a letter
formally requesting the government begin the process of terminating
Schwarzenegger's citizenship.

"Schwarzenegger is possibly the most prominent Austrian abroad,
and he shapes the picture of Austria," Pilz said.

"I don't want that picture shaped by someone who commits state
murder. That does not correspond to the political culture of this
country."

Calls to the Interior Ministry went unanswered yesterday.

It appeared unlikely the Greens, a leftist opposition party
which holds just a handful of seats in parliament, would persuade
Austria's conservative government to revoke Schwarzenegger's
citizenship.

Rarely, if ever, has Austria taken the extraordinary step of
stripping someone of citizenship.

Beardslee, 61, convicted of killing two women over a drug deal
almost a quarter-century ago, became the first inmate put to death
by California in three years when he was given a lethal injection
at San Quentin State Prison.

The execution came hours after Schwarzenegger rejected a
clemency petition seeking to commute the death sentence to life
without parole, and the California Supreme Court rejected two
last-minute appeals.

In Vienna, it triggered a small but spirited protest outside the
US Embassy.

The backlash against Schwarzenegger underscores how he has lost
popularity in his homeland over his support for the death
penalty.

Most Austrians - and many other Europeans - abhor capital
punishment as cruel and inhumane.

In a straw vote held earlier in the week in the western province
of Upper Austria, fewer than 25 per cent said they considered
Schwarzenegger fit to run the province.

It was a stark difference from six months ago, when Austria's
post office giddily issued a new "Arnie" stamp and Austrian
newspaper commentators urged Americans to amend the constitution to
let foreign-born citizens like Schwarzenegger run for
president.

Pilz's Green Party has been especially riled by the governor's
pro-death penalty stance.

In the southern city of Graz, near Schwarzenegger's birthplace,
the Greens have led a drive to rename Schwarzenegger Stadium, a
15,350-seat soccer venue, because he supports capital
punishment.

Schwarzenegger was born in 1947 in the village of Thal just
outside Graz.

He emigrated to the United States in 1968 and became a
naturalised US citizen in 1984, but has retained his Austrian
citizenship.

Pilz insists there are sufficient legal grounds to strip
Schwarzenegger of that citizenship.

A clause in Austria's nationality law stipulates that
citizenship can be revoked if an Austrian "in the service of
another country substantially damages the interests or reputation
of the republic by his or her behaviour".